Revised House bill for education changes is revealed

Updated 10:00 pm, Saturday, May 25, 2013

Lawmakers on Saturday unveiled a final version of House Bill 5, a package of major education reforms that would cut the number of state tests that high school students have to pass and would overhaul graduation requirements.

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“From day one, we came here with three goals and that was to reduce the number of STAAR tests, to create flexibility in graduation pathways with an emphasis on career and college and ... pass a charter bill that will expand the opportunity for great charters and close down bad charters. And Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 5 accomplished those goals,” Patrick said.

The House and Senate have until midnight Sunday to pass the bills. Gov. Rick Perry rarely states which bills he will sign until a legislative session ends, but HB 5 goes “a long way (toward) assuring his goals of supporting rigor” in public education, Aycock said.

Patrick, who has called HB 5 one of the most important bills of the current session, said 2,000 parents, educators, business leaders and advocacy groups testified on education issues in Austin this year, most of them over “testing, curriculum and charters.”

Aycock agreed, saying, “We've listened to a lot of people in the process in the last several months, and I believe we're in a good place. ... I think we've met the right (balance) of rigor and flexibility.”

Born out of the growing backlash to the state's new standardized testing system — which requires high school students to pass 15 end-of-course exams and meet cumulative score requirements in core subjects — HB 5 was designed to offer immediate relief.

Starting in the 2013-14 school year, the bill would reduce the number of required end-of-course tests to five — in Algebra I, biology, U.S. history and English I and II. It would end the cumulative score requirement and allow satisfactory performance on advanced placement and ACT and SAT exams to count toward graduation.

House Bill 2836, which would reduce testing for students in elementary and middle schools, was headed to a conference committee Saturday.

Lawmakers have largely favored scaling back the high-stakes testing requirements but have differed on HB 5's big changes to graduation and curriculum requirements.

The bill is designed to increase access to vocational and career courses that offer the chance to earn trade certifications before graduation.

It would require all high school students to start on a “foundation” plan — slightly more rigorous than the current “minimum” diploma requirements — and then allow them to choose “endorsements” in business and industry; arts and humanities; science, technology, engineering and math, called STEM; or in public services, Patrick said.

Students not wishing to participate in an “endorsement” can opt out in the 10th grade with parental consent.

All “endorsements” would require students to accrue 26 credits and would tweak the current “4x4” system, which demands that all students take four years of math, science, English and social studies to graduate. Rather than require a specific sequence of math and science courses, Aycock said, the bill would give students the flexibility to choose classes that are more aligned with their career or vocational paths.

“The only thing that has really changed is the kinds of math and science courses students can take,” Aycock said. “There's more flexibility ... it doesn't necessarily have to be Algebra II.”

Under HB 5, all high school students would be eligible to apply for a four-year college or university, Patrick said.

The bill creates a “distinguished” graduation plan for students who complete an endorsement and pass Algebra II. A “distinguished” graduate would be eligible for automatic admission to a Texas four-year college or university.

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, pointed out during a heated Senate floor debate this month that the bill would allow students to skip Algebra II, which would make them ineligible for automatic admission to Texas universities under the state's “top 10 percent rule.”

That system “has enabled students from all walks of life to get a first-tier education and break the cycle of poverty,” she wrote in an opinion article in the San Antonio Express-News.

“I'm in favor of giving parents and students more choices in the courses that would count toward meeting ... graduation requirements,” he said, adding that he doesn't think students need Algebra II to be successful.

But Woods, like other area superintendents, expressed concern about the accountability portion of the bill. While HB 5 keeps current accountability ratings for campuses, it would rate school districts using an A through F letter grade.

“We believe the majority of schools across the state that receive an F rating will likely be those that serve the neediest communities with limited resources,” said North East ISD Superintendent Brian Gottardy in an emailed statement.

HB 5 also would give the state education agency power to look beyond standardized tests to rate schools, allowing it to include the percentage of students graduating with endorsements, the number of students earning college credit and the number of students earning workforce certificates.